A Magical Light from Nowhere
by Silver Dragon Golden Dragon
Summary: Story 1 in a 7 story series, Game of Dreams. After Atem- When an unexpected accident almost claims one man's life, everyone's lives are changed.
1. Chapter 1

This entire series is dedicated to Pharaoh Atem, also known as Yami, with love.

Disclaimer: Sanni and Jessi do not own the show on which this set of stories is based, however, we do own quite a bit of merchandise, which we feel entitles us to write fanfictions about it. This is the first story we've written entirely in Microsoft Works, so it may work weirdly. For one thing, it keeps correcting our spelling when we didn't ask it to. And just so you know, we don't own any of the songs that inspire the chapter titles.

Silver: This is based After Atem, so anybody looking for Yami is going to have a hard time finding him.

Golden: I like that, "After Atem." It's a catchy way to explain exactly what we mean.

Silver:…. Right. Anyhow, welcome to the first _Game of Dreams _story, _A Magical Light from Nowhere_! The title, so you know, is a direct quote of little Hikari's brother when he was talking to the dog about his flashlight.

Golden: I pick up the strangest things, don't you think?

Silver: Dhur. The pairings in this story include; Téa/Yami, Joey/Mai, Seto/Serenity, and Téa/Bakura, as well as whatever else might randomly pop up, with the possibility of some fleeting Rebecca/Yugi and Téa/Yugi. Sometimes in the way the relationship is discussed, Yami/Yugi can be interpreted, but we suggest you keep your minds out of the gutter in that case. It also has violence and some rather mature situations, but don't worry, nobody dies. We avoid bashing in this story and try to portray the characters the way we think they actually are.

Golden: Enjoy our anime/soap opera lovechild!

Silver: 0o

**A Magical Light From Nowhere**

Chapter One: Headlong

It had been a week since his friend's departure to death, Joey mused as he walked the darkened streets of Domino, and already Yugi seemed to have healed. Joey had to wonder how he did it. After all, everyone else was having trouble adjusting, but Yugi had plowed forth vigorously, taking on anything, talking about his partner as though Atem was still fine, but far away.

There certainly were no delusions in Yugi's mind about whether Yami would ever return in this life. The answer was no. But Yugi didn't seem to mind that, concentrating instead on the pain of his friends.

Joey was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even think to look before he crossed the street, and he only realized what was happening when the light had engulfed him.

A few excruciating moments later he managed to force his eyes open a little. He was lying on someone's windshield, and there was yelling.

"YOU IDIOT, JULES!" came a familiar voice, and Seto Kaiba's face suddenly swam vaguely into view. Jules… Was that his chauffeur?

Joey was in a lot of pain, but he could still think clearly enough to decide he didn't like this situation.

He felt himself being lifted gently. Wasn't it supposed to be bad to move injured people? He moaned as pain shot up his legs, but Kaiba had always been a relentless man. Jules said something. "I know you aren't supposed to move an injured person," Kaiba replied in annoyance, "But how are you supposed to get us to the hospital when he's on the windshield?"

Joey heard the next jab as Kaiba carefully laid him in the backseat, covering him with his coat. "I still can't see," Jules said in a childish tone, "the glass is too splintered!"

That obviously enraged Kaiba, because the next thing Joey heard was the shattering of something heavy passing through the windshield.

"THERE!" the teenager roared, "NOW YOU CAN SEE!" He angrily got in next to Joey, slamming the door. "And as soon as we get there," Joey heard him mumble, "that moron is fired."

Yugi was stepping out of the shower when the phone rang. He cursed. Why did this always happen when he was the only one home? Grabbing a towel he ran from the bathroom, trying to dry his hair (and not drip too much) as he went.

He made it just in time to pick it up before the fifth ring. "Hello?" he demanded. His expression quickly turned from one of annoyance to one of concern and confusion. "Kaiba? What are you calling for?"

"You WHAT?" Yugi maneuvered the towel around his hips as he began to pace the room. A few words… "It's not safe to move an injured person like thatWell of COURSE you know that alreadyWhy are you calling me? You don't know his number. Oh, forAre you alright? Good. Listen, you stay at the hospital until I get there, okay? I mean it, Kaiba! Good. I'll call Mokuba, let him know too. See you there."

Yugi hung the phone up heavily and began to move faster. He had something else to worry about, now.

Seto Kaiba sat in the hospital waiting room, face in his hands. One of the worst situations to be in is one where a body can't do anything about it, and he knew that all too well. Now that he'd gotten Joey to the hospital, and it was out of his hands, he should have been able to relax a little… instead he felt utterly useless.

The door burst open, and the first one through was his brother, followed by Yugi and several of his friends.

"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed, throwing his arms around him. He accepted the embrace numbly, looking up at Yugi.

"It's family visitation only right now," he said softly, a little hoarsely. A young woman, someone he vaguely recognized as Joey's sister, (Serenity? It was some virtue name…) ran past with these words, with someone who had to be Joey's mother close behind. "The doctors said he should be alright," Seto murmured loudly enough for the others to hear.

Yugi put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you."

The words sent a shudder through him. Yugi must have felt it because he pulled back in surprise. "Don't you DARE thank me," Kaiba growled deep in his chest, standing. "This is my fault!"

He brushed past them. Mokuba remained, staring after his brother a moment, then looked to meet the questioning expressions of the others.

"Seto's always hated hospitals," he said with a shrug.

"It'll be a while before he walks again," the doctor was telling Serenity's mother, "But he will. And that's the worst we have to worry about. Thanks to young Mr. Kaiba, he didn't lose too much blood and we were able to catch anything else before it got out of hand." There was an ironic note in the doctor's voice as he said "Mr. Kaiba," Serenity noticed.

She sat at Joey's side, holding his hand. He was under heavy painkillers, so she knew that even if he was awake he wasn't going to be much for conversation.

"You'll be just fine, Joey," she whispered. "You remember at the Battle City finals, when you almost died? This is nothing."

Thankfully her mother didn't hear her. Mrs. Wheeler was worried about her son enough already, and when they'd been speeding (quite literally) to the hospital all the woman had been able to concentrate on was that she'd never told him how much she loved him, how proud of him she was that he could be a good, strong man despite everything his parents had put him through….

A sudden feeling of irony welled up inside her. If not for this terrible accident, Mrs. Wheeler may have never had the chance anyway!

Yugi sat next to Mokuba in the waiting room, Bakura on his other side, Téa across from him and sitting between Duke and Tristan. Téa wasn't looking at him.

In fact, she hadn't looked Yugi in the eye since Atem's passing. Yugi couldn't help but feel as if she was blaming him.

There had been no choice, he reminded himself. He couldn't just let his partner win, no matter how much he'd wanted to. Yami had spread his arms, welcomed the attack. He'd been ready.

Now Téa was treating him as if he was a criminal, Yugi thought a little bitterly. What did she know? She only lost a lover. Yugi

Yugi had lost half his soul. And it had been by his own actions. He could only make up for it in one way, and that

That was to honor Yami's memory in the best way he knew how. By filling his shoes.

Téa glanced at Yugi, then decided to look very carefully at Bakura's shoes. Every time she looked at him a little pain went through her. He acted so much like Atem now. If it hadn't been for a few small idiosyncrasies, a few tiny features, she could almost imagine he WAS Atem. And every time she realized that he wasn't, she felt a jolt. It was like losing him all over again.

Téa didn't want to be reminded of her grief, she wanted to get away from it. Even though Yugi was her friend, one of her best friends, even inhabited the body of her lost lover, he was also the strongest reminder in all their lives of the loss.

Téa remembered once when she and Atem had been out walking through Domino, along some of the more scenic views of the ocean, in the short time between his learning his name and the fateful trip to Egypt. They'd taken a moment to sit and watch the sunset.

Yami had leaned in close, smiling as though he was about to kiss her. She'd blushed, staring at him… when he planted a kiss squarely on her nose.

Téa closed her eyes, feeling a smile at the memory. Atem had laughed himself silly at the look on her face. He'd always had a strange sense of humor.

It was funnyeven though Téa had known deep down that he'd have to go, she'd always imagined herself spending the rest of her life with him.

And now what would she do?

Seto walked through his home almost like a zombie. There was blood on his clotheshe registered that this meant he had to clean up…

When he finally made it up to the bathroom attached to his room, he stripped tiredly and threw the clothing into the corner, missing the hamper.

Blood is often near to impossible to get out of clothes, but fortunately it comes right off skin with just a little soap.

He was so distracted he nearly fell over in the shower.

When he finally managed to dry off, pull on a pair of boxers, and stumble through the door, Seto collapsed onto the bed with what sounded remarkably like a dry sob.

He pulled into a fetal position, clutching the pillow and shaking with held-back tears. What had he almost done?

Joey, the idiot, was in the hospital… because… The car… The car… Blast the car! Why did people have to drive big heavy cars, anyway? It's harder to kill people with a bicycle, and it's healthier… He'd almost killed somebody with the stupid car…

It didn't matter to Seto that Jules had been driving. It was HIS CAR. Joey had been walking and ended up on HIS WINDSHIELD. HIS CAR. Joey had almost died, and it was because of HIS CAR

It was finally too much. Seto felt the salty liquid on his face, registered some surprise at what tears tasted like, and then buried his face in the pillow, trying to banish them.

To be continued.

Silver: Do you remember when "lover" just meant somebody who wanted to marry you?

Golden: Considering I don't think I was born yet, no. And now a little preemptive answering of possible questions. First off, for anyone who hasn't read the manga or the summaries of it (which is what Sanni and I did) apparently Yugi and Yami had a duel to determine whether or not Yami went on to the afterlife. If Yami won it meant he wasn't ready to die yet and he would be granted his own body. But since he'd done such a good job on Yugi, Yugi didn't really "need" him anymore.

Silver: As to the way Téa's reacting. Even though she is a very loving, understanding, friendly person (to the point of making some of you want to gag) sometimes she can be a little self-absorbed, and when it comes to Atem she can be outright selfish. Once in the early manga she deliberately got separated from Yugi when she found out there was a terrorist in the amusement park they were in, hoping to frighten him enough to bring out Yami. Poor Yugi went through all that worry just so she could see Yami! (shakes head) Shame, shame, shame. So now, even though she has grown up some, Téa still isn't quite thinking about the way Yugi feels about the way she's acting.

Golden: She's pretty ordinary, as teenage girls go. If you're wondering where Mai is, she's currently in America. But that'll be changing soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Golden: Chapter two, without quite so many embellishments at the beginning! We know it's a little odd to some people that we'd be doing a tribute to an anime cartoon character because of his death, but please note that when Sherlock Holmes died, all of Britain mourned. People even wore black armbands to mark his passing!

Silver: Actually the reason he came back is because Sir Doyle's own mother wrote him asking him to resurrect the character. Fan appreciation is also the reason we've been hearing stuff about "Genex," but from the way it sounds it doesn't really have any of the original characters. Not what little Hikari and I want. So we're going to continue doing fan works like this one.

---

Chapter Two: Good Company

The sun shone glitteringly on Domino City's hospital. Mokuba walked silently through the halls to a lounge area near Joey's room. Yugi had pretty quickly designated that as the best place to find him until Joey awoke, so it came as no surprise that the others were there, too. Téa, silent and apart from the rest of the group, staring silently at a Duel Monsters card in her hand, Duke and Tristan, both trying to talk to Serenity while she was trying very hard to make it clear she intended to read, Bakura, who looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to walk over and try to coax Téa out of her silence, and of course Yugi himself, who seemed to be encouraging Bakura. That was odd, Mokuba mused.

Yugi noticed him. "Hey, Mokuba! How was your night?"

Mokuba had been among the first to leave the hospital the night before, explaining that he was worried about his brother. The boy shrugged noncommittally. "Alright, I guess…. Seto was asleep when I got home and still asleep when I left this morning, so I haven't talked to him."

Yugi's brows knitted in concern. "That's certainly out of the ordinary for him. I wonder…"

Tristan, however, had picked up on the conversation. "Lucky Kaiba," he said, sounding bitter, "Sleeping in his own bed in his big mansion while Joey's here--"

"That's enough, Tristan!" Yugi interrupted him suddenly, surprising the entire group. Even Téa looked up. He'd sounded so much like Yami it was frightening. Yugi didn't seem to notice. "Kaiba was obviously very badly affected by what's happened. It's not his fault this happened, it's not anybody's fault! Leave Mokuba alone."

"Besides," came a low, somber voice, "I didn't sleep very well anyway."

"Seto!" Mokuba said in surprise. His brother made a soft noise of greeting, patting his head as he passed, then wraithlike, stalked towards Joey's room.

Everyone watched after him, then Serenity got up. "If you gentlemen (and lady) will excuse me," she said almost stiffly. Tristan and Duke tried to follow her and got _Pride and Prejudice _thrown at them.

"Leave her alone, too," Yugi said with a smile.

"I don't know how to say I'm sorry," Seto Kaiba told the prone form.

"I've never really had much practice." He shifted uncomfortably. "I- Well, to be honest I kind of hope you can't hear me."

He didn't see Joey's eyes crack open, or the motion of his deep brown eyes fixing on the taller, yet younger teenager.

"I can't explain how this makes me feel. I'm not entirely sure I know how I feel. It sounds so stupid-- just to say I'm sorry. But I am. Deeply. I don't know if you'll forgive me or not, because I know that forgiving someone for a thing like this is--"

He fell silent. How could he explain himself? Did he really need to? The soft, light voice from the doorway jolted him out of the questions.

"Mr. Kaiba?" He spun. It was Serenity Wheeler.

"How long were you standing there?" he demanded, feeling his face grow warm. She approached him nervously, holding her hands just below her breast, wringing them anxiously.

"I just now caught up with you," she said honestly. "Are you alright?"

Seto turned from her, trying to hide his embarrassment. "I'm fine," he responded gruffly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've been through an awful experience, Mr. Kaiba." He felt a gentle hand touch his back and flinched away. "And because you're shaking."

Seto lifted his hand to stare at it. It was indeed trembling, and badly. "I am not," he retorted obstinately.

Serenity fought the urge to laugh and decided to change the subject. "I've been trying to contact Mai Valentine for several hours," she commented, "But last I heard she's still in America. She should know about this."

"I'll find her," he said, surprising her.

"Mr. Kaiba, you've done so much already. You should have seen my mother's face when the doctor told her you'd offered to buffer the hospital expenses."

"I'll find her," Seto insisted, "Don't worry about it." He left before she could say anything else. Serenity stared after him, a sudden blush spreading up her cheeks.

"He's not so bad, is he?" Joey's voice came, making her jump. She gaped at him.

"How long were you awake?" Serenity asked, plopping down by his bed and grabbing his hand. Joey laughed a little painfully.

"He woke me up with 'To be honest I kind of hope you can't hear me,'" he told her cryptically. He continued to grin at her cattily.

She pulled back a little uncertainly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Joey could barely contain himself. "You've been crushing on him, haven't you?"

Serenity's face scrunched and lit with red. "JOEY!"

A few minutes after Seto walked past them all again, blaming "a meeting" for his departure, Serenity returned. "He's awake," she told them with a smile. "The nurse came in and chased me out, but says we'll be able to visit him one at a time when she's done with him."

Nobody argued in the slightest that Yugi should go first.

"Hey, bro!" Joey exclaimed happily when Yugi walked in. "Am I glad ta see you!" Yugi grinned, dragging a chair up to sit at Joey's side.

Joey gave him a hug as he sat, careful of his own bruised and cracked ribs. Yugi hugged him gently back. "I'm glad to see you too, Joey. What would we have done with ourselves without you?" Joey grinned cockily.

"Not even a limo can get rid of me with one shot!" Joey retorted. He paused. "Well, maybe a train..."

Yugi knew better than pursue a subject like this. "Just keep away from them, Joey."

Joey lay his head back soberly. "Can you imagine how Yami might have reacted to this?" he asked.

Yugi sighed. "I don't know, Joey. He didn't really-- understand modern transportation. I'd probably still be explaining it the week after. He kept it to himself, but he was always fascinated by Kaiba's helicopters."

Joey snorted. "Did Serenity tell you what he offered to do?" Yugi shook his head. "Well, of course not. Kaiba offered to find Mai and tell her what's happened! Can ya believe it?"

Yugi was silent a moment, remembering the haunted look in Kaiba's eyes the night before. "Yes," he said.

Bakura stared at Téa, who hadn't moved from her spot except to hug Serenity when she told them Joey was awake. Serenity had left for the gift shop, Duke and Tristan following her, and who knew where Mokuba had lit off to. They were alone.

He stood and walked over to her, kneeling to put himself in her view. "Téa, you've been nearly silent for days, now. It's not healthy for a teenage girl not to be talking nonstop, you know?"

Téa sighed and looked away from him, straightening. "I haven't had much to talk about, Bakura. Ever since--" She sighed again. Bakura didn't have to ask.

He got up and sat next to her, putting an arm over her shoulder. "Atem is in a better place, Téa. He's at rest now. I don't know what else to tell you. I know it doesn't make you feel any better, but..." he swallowed. "I'm here for you."

Téa looked up into his endless dark eyes and smiled weakly, leaning into him.

"Thank you," she said, kissing his chin.

"So what do you plan on getting Joey?" Tristan asked Serenity, hovering over her.

"I can pay for it if you like!" Duke offered with an amorous grin, pushing Tristan aside.

Serenity glared tiredly at the both of them. "Not now, you two. Just leave me alone. I need to think."

"You heard her! Leave her alone!" "What? YOU'RE the one who was..." Pushing and shoving, they wrestled their way out of the gift shop.

Serenity sighed gratefully. As well-meaning as they were, both tended to be pretty overbearing. That wasn't what she needed right now.

What was going on in Kaiba's head? Joey had always told her that he was a total jerk, usually only ever thinking of himself. Since last night he'd been the epitome of generosity.

Or was he really? There was the strong possibility he'd been acting out of guilt. But did guilt really affect one such as he so heavily?

She smiled to herself, blushing a little as she remembered how he'd trembled at her touch, flinched away as if in fear. How stubborn he was! He'd stared directly at his quivering hand and told her he wasn't shaking.

Serenity plucked a get well card off a stand, quickly replacing it with some annoyance. She could write better cards than this herself. But there WERE plush Duel Monsters.

She found a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, chibi in its toy form, and hugged it experimentally. "This is perfect for Joey," Serenity decided happily. "He'll crack up, at least."

"I bet he will," said a voice at her side.

"Yeep!" Serenity jumped away to see Mokuba Kaiba looking up at her with a mischievous grin. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Mokuba smiled slyly. "Like what?" He held up something. It glittered in his hand. "This is for you."

Serenity took the little box and pulled away the foil wrap. Inside was a silver pendant. "What is it?" she asked, feeling rather stupid. Mokuba giggled.

"Open it up and look," he said, and it suddenly occurred to her he was delivering this for his brother. Carefully, she slid her fingernails under the cover and popped the locket open.

"Oh!" she exclaimed delightedly. She didn't have to ask how he'd gotten a picture of Joey with his Duel Disk on-- after all, he'd dueled in both of Kaiba's more recent tournaments.

"That was taken during the Grand Prix," Mokuba explained. "Seto took a lot more pictures of that one."

Serenity nodded. "I watched it on TV," she said with a smile. "Poor Joey." She shook her head, grinning. "He never gets a break, does he?" She turned to Mokuba. "Is this from you, or your brother?"

Mokuba's grin widened, and she knew the truth. "I won't lie, but I'm not telling the truth, either," he answered her. He skipped away, humming some old song.

Serenity fingered the beautiful silver, and she smiled.

To be continued.

Golden: Look! Téa kissed Bakura's chin!

Silver: You're easily amused, aren't you, little Hikari.


End file.
